Occupational Therapy

The Department of Occupational Therapy offers a five-year master of science program in occupational therapy in which students receive a B.S. degree in occupational science and an M.S. degree in occupational therapy after the fifth year. Students must complete the fifth year to be eligible for the national certification examination and state licensure as occupational therapists. This program is designed as a freshman-entry program, and graduate students are admitted only from the Ithaca College undergraduate occupational science program. The undergraduate component of this program is described in the Ithaca College undergraduate catalog.Undergraduate Catalog

The fifth year of the occupational therapy program takes place on the Ithaca College campus and at clinical fieldwork sites located throughout the country. The graduate year of study consists of 40 credits of graduate work, including 16 credits of clinical fieldwork education. The graduate year includes one full academic year of study and two summers. Students may elect a thesis or non-thesis option, but all engage in research-related activities during this year, which is designed to provide depth and breadth of education beyond traditional entry-level occupational therapy education.

The occupational therapy program at Ithaca College is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA, 4720 Montgomery Lane, P.O. Box 331220, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220. Telephone: 301-652-AOTA).American Occupational Therapy Association

Graduates of the master’s degree program will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination administrated by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the graduate will be an occupational therapist, registered (OTR). In New York and most other jurisdictions, a professional license is also required for practice. Although the NBCOT examination generally serves as the licensing examination, graduates are required to apply separately for certification and state licensure before entering clinical practice.National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy

Admission Requirements

To be eligible for admission, students must have completed the B.S. degree program in occupational science at Ithaca College with a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher. Students who have completed the degree with a cumulative GPA below 3.00, but equal to or greater than 2.70, will be required to pass a departmental graduate admissions examination at the completion of the spring semester of their senior year to be admitted to the graduate program.

Academic Standards

Students are expected to maintain a GPA of 3.00 or higher during their graduate studies. Students may not receive a C (C-, C, or C+) for more than 6 credits, or an F for more than 3 credits during their graduate academic study. Students who fail to meet these standards in any semester will be placed on academic warning.

If a student receives a grade of F for a level II fieldwork class, he or she will be placed on academic warning by the department and the Division of Graduate Studies. The student must register for and successfully complete an alternate fieldwork assignment as scheduled by the academic fieldwork coordinator. The faculty may require remedial work or apply special conditions that the student must meet before he or she is allowed to repeat this class. If the student successfully completes this course, he or she may continue in the program; however, no one will be allowed to repeat of a level II fieldwork class more than once.

These policies, as well as academic, clinical, and professional behavior standards, are published in the Occupational Therapy Student Manual, the Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Manual, and the Ithaca College undergraduate catalog.